Also new to forum lol

[mpolsue1]

Mark here. My wife and I will both retire in about 3 yrs. One of our dreams has been to have an RV and cruise around some after we retire. I figured this was a pipe dream, but looking around I believe we will actually be able to achieve our dream. We will start to save enough for a down payment, which shouldn't take but a few months, and beyond on a 5th Wheel. That's what looks the best for us at the moment. We live in Abilene, Texas and will start saving and shopping next week (after payday). We are very enthused. I am so glad to find this forum, which already answered some of our questions. I will probably be lurking some, but will be sure to comment and/or ask questions as they occur. Thank you very much for offering this forum. 

Mark & Sandy

 

[Tom]

Hi Mark and Sandy, & welcome to The RV Forum. Sounds like you have a plan. Feel free to browse/search our message boards and ask questions. Also take a look around our forum Library and our Resources for RVers (links in the menu above).

 

[IkeBen]

Hi Mark & Sandy;
My wife and I are also planning on going out in 3 years and have started reading all we can, seeing as many RV dealers and rigs as possible. The more we see, the more we know how much we need to learn. So far, we figured out that we want a 34+ foot Class A (though we recently looked at a 5th wheel that my wife LOVED the layout, so who knows!) All I am sure of is that, since this will be our only home for a while, we want to minimize major errors - so we are taking our time.
One of the books is Motorhomes an RV Retirement living by Jerry Minchey, and there are a few others out there, all giving ideas to mull.
Good luck. Maybe we'll meet on the road!
Ike & Sheila

 

[mpolsue1]

Hi Ike and Sheila!
Thank you both so much for your pleasant (and encouraging) post. We've talked about RVing after retirement for years... BUT, I have to admit I figured this was just something else on the bucket list that would never actually come to pass. The difference here, though, is the excitement we are experiencing. We have a pickup truck and will start this weekend actually shopping for a travel trailer. We aren't in a huge hurry, as we have until we retire. On the other hand, we are going forward and if we can find something we like and are able to pull, we may get at RVing (short trips) much sooner than expected. I would love to RV in a Class A, but that just probably isn't going to happen for us. That's okay, though. Maybe we will meet on the road and if not, can certainly stay in touch to some degree (for accountability maybe lol) here on the forum and see how our dreams are shaping up.

Mark & Sandy

 

[Pugapooh]

Welcome.

What truck are you planning to tow with?  Very important to know what YOUR truck can pull. 

Have you considered used units?  You can save a lot of money and get more for your buck. 

Take the time to picture yourselves living in it.  For three straight days of rain. Now,where will all your stuff go? Esp. The kitchen.  So many different floor plans,it can be overwhelming.

Good luck!

 

[scottydl]

So many different floor plans... maybe. I personally found when shopping for RV's that after you see a few interior designs, you've just about seen them all. There may be a cabinet or pantry difference here and there, but there's only so many ways that 3-4 small rooms (a bedroom or two, kitchen/living combo, and bathroom) can be arranged. Newer units with 3-4 slides expand your floorplan options, but as mentioned you can get a lot more for your money by buying gently used (especially from a private party seller). It takes a lot of patience and advanced learning, but it's all worth it when you find the perfect rig for you!

Welcome to the forum... keep on searching and reading our extensive archive of threads, feel free to jump into any ongoing discussions, and/or post more new questions as they come up. And they WILL come up.

 

[mpolsue1]

Welcome.

What truck are you planning to tow with?  Very important to know what YOUR truck can pull. 

Have you considered used units?  You can save a lot of money and get more for your buck. 

Take the time to picture yourselves living in it.  For three straight days of rain. Now,where will all your stuff go? Esp. The kitchen.  So many different floor plans,it can be overwhelming.

Good luck!

Thank you for the response! We only started getting serious (doing research, etc.,) last weekend. I have a half ton pickup (2017 Ram 1500). Have been becoming (work in progress lol) acquainted with the GVWRs, etc., of my truck from the 2017 Ram 1500 Towing Chart. There is a lot to become familiar with in order to learn what we can pull. We've been shopping online (browsing, rather lol) but will be going out Saturday to begin looking around town (two lots in town and two more within about 90 miles). The new Jayco's have grabbed Sandy's eye. I am more focused on making it happen (safety and the thrill of being on the road again, etc.,) without paying quite as much attention to aesthetics and if she's happy, I'll be happy. We will probably go with used units, though. Good advice! Also, buying from owners would be good, although it will take longer to achieve, perhaps.

Yea not having nearly as much stuff will be hard, but I really think it is doable (I'll have a better idea Saturday after we eyeball some trailers first hand). I spent twenty years in the service and really hate even leaving town anymore lol; however, what it is for me is not wanting to leave my dogs (three dogs that together weigh under 25 lbs.) and video games and books at home haha! So if we have some of our stuff along for the ride, leaving town shouldn't be an issue.

Picturing three days of being stuck inside will become more realistic for me this weekend. She has, but I haven't been inside a travel trailer for probably forty years.

Pumped and looking forward to trailer browsing! Thank you for your insight! Hope to hear from you again

Mark & Sandy 

 

[mpolsue1]

So many different floor plans... maybe. I personally found when shopping for RV's that after you see a few interior designs, you've just about seen them all. There may be a cabinet or pantry difference here and there, but there's only so many ways that 3-4 small rooms (a bedroom or two, kitchen/living combo, and bathroom) can be arranged. Newer units with 3-4 slides expand your floorplan options, but as mentioned you can get a lot more for your money by buying gently used (especially from a private party seller). It takes a lot of patience and advanced learning, but it's all worth it when you find the perfect rig for you!

Welcome to the forum... keep on searching and reading our extensive archive of threads, feel free to jump into any ongoing discussions, and/or post more new questions as they come up. And they WILL come up.

Thank you, Scotty, for the encouragement and the info on the similarity of floorplans. We have been looking around online at different rigs and are now looking at TTs instead of 5th Wheels. It seems like, as a rule of thumb, they might tend towards a lighter Gross Vehicle Weight; I'm not quite sure what I am basing that on lol as I am definitely still learning and an advantage is not being in ahuge hurry.

I have also been watching YouTube videos on RVing (mostly Keep Your Day Dream) for ideas as well as some cool scenery.

Thank you all for this forum. I feel connected !   

 

[mpolsue1]

Hi Mark and Sandy, & welcome to The RV Forum. Sounds like you have a plan. Feel free to browse/search our message boards and ask questions. Also take a look around our forum Library and our Resources for RVers (links in the menu above).

HI Tom and thanks for the welcome!

We DO have a plan lol and it is extremely subject to change as we learn more. Thanks very much to all for this forum!

Mark & Sandy

 

[scottydl]

A couple other YouTube channels I recommend are Long Long Honeymoon, Love Your RV, and RVlove.

 

[Alfa38User]

As mentioned above, you should determine what YOUR truck can handle. This information, in part, is on a sticker in YOUR truck. The published information you find in the towing guide does not necessarily reflect your particular vehicle but is often generic to a bare bones 1500 series truck. The information you need can be found on a sticker on the door post and contains the tire info + the CCC or maximum load capacity.

 

[mpolsue1]

A couple other YouTube channels I recommend are Long Long Honeymoon, Love Your RV, and RVlove.

Thanks for the suggestions of other YouTube channels! I will check them out.

Mark & Sandy

 

[mpolsue1]

As mentioned above, you should determine what YOUR truck can handle. This information, in part, is on a sticker in YOUR truck. The published information you find in the towing guide does not necessarily reflect your particular vehicle but is often generic to a bare bones 1500 series truck. The information you need can be found on a sticker on the door post and contains the tire info + the CCC or maximum load capacity.

Thanks Stu! I appreciate your concern There are a lot of helpful folks around the forum, it seems.   

Your reply got me to thinking and I have made a new post this evening in the towing section titled 2017 Dodge Ram 1500. 

I don't understand GCWR very well (not on the sticker on the door of my pickup).

Thanks again!

Mark & Sandy

 

[kdbgoat]

The GCWR is the maximum weight of the truck and trailer combined.

 

[mpolsue1]

The GCWR is the maximum weight of the truck and trailer combined.

YOU have been extremely helpful this evening! Truly!

I could read what GCWR was along with an explanation without really understanding it, if that makes any sense.

Going through it with me like you did on the towing question I asked turned the light bulb on, pretty much. I'll probably still take my figures with me tomorrow when we go look at trailers lol, but I don't feel as much like a TOTAL rookie at least lol.

Thank you again!

Mark & Sandy 

 

[2PawsRiver]

Good Luck......my wife and I have been planning on fulltime RVing for a long time and are down to our last month in our house.  We are fortunate that we have about 2 months to get ready and have started the act of pruning down the belongings.  I have 25 hangers, told my wife she can have 50......I don't think she is buying it.  We are going to have a big garage sale and are buying a small enclosed trailer for the things we don't want to sell and will park it in a friends pole barn.  We bought our truck, a Dodge 2500, two years ago as part of the plan and  traded it in last week for a 3500, my wife wanted a bigger Toyhauler, which was a change to the plan......it can be done, just prepare and commit.....good luck.

 

[John From Detroit]

HI Tom and thanks for the welcome!

We DO have a plan lol and it is extremely subject to change as we learn more. Thanks very much to all for this forum!

Mark & Sandy

Welcome and that looks like a good plan.. (Subject to change as we learn) There is a military saying "No plan for battle survives the first encounter with the enemy"  Well with a bit of wording change that applies to.. Most everything.

Kind of like when I give vacation advice
Cramming 3 weeks of fun into a 2 week time slot does not work well
Cramming 2 weeks of fun in a 3 week time slot is lovely.  Cause you can add a stop at some place interesting instead of noting for a later vacation.

Of course these days I cram 52 weeks of FUN into 52 weeks a year

 

[mpolsue1]

Good Luck......my wife and I have been planning on fulltime RVing for a long time and are down to our last month in our house.  We are fortunate that we have about 2 months to get ready and have started the act of pruning down the belongings.  I have 25 hangers, told my wife she can have 50......I don't think she is buying it.  We are going to have a big garage sale and are buying a small enclosed trailer for the things we don't want to sell and will park it in a friends pole barn.  We bought our truck, a Dodge 2500, two years ago as part of the plan and  traded it in last week for a 3500, my wife wanted a bigger Toyhauler, which was a change to the plan......it can be done, just prepare and commit.....good luck.

Thank you for the encouragement and ideas!

We didn't get serious until just recently. I'm fortunate we even had a truck at all! If we had been planning for awhile, I'd like to think we'd have a 2500 or 3500... But we don't and so we will go with what we have lol c'est la vie! Down to your last month in your house! I wonder if we will ever get to that point. You both have to be SO STOKED!

"Prepare and Commit!" Great advice and thanks!

BEST OF LUCK on how things go in preparation for going full time!

Mark & Sandy
 

 

[mpolsue1]

Welcome and that looks like a good plan.. (Subject to change as we learn) There is a military saying "No plan for battle survives the first encounter with the enemy"  Well with a bit of wording change that applies to.. Most everything.

Kind of like when I give vacation advice
Cramming 3 weeks of fun into a 2 week time slot does not work well
Cramming 2 weeks of fun in a 3 week time slot is lovely.  Cause you can add a stop at some place interesting instead of noting for a later vacation.

Of course these days I cram 52 weeks of FUN into 52 weeks a year

I took some kind of personality test once that said I liked to make plans. I do! It also said I wasn't very good at it. That is also true LOL! My wife doesn't really plan at all.

I think our planning "expertise" comes from a dose of reality like you said in so many words, " No battle plan survives the first encounter with the enemy!"

We try not to cram cos it just turns around and bites us on the butt LOL!

BUT cramming 2 weeks of fun into a 3 week slot sounds like a plan LOL!  The 52 wks of fun into 52 wks sounds like a plan also. We aren't quite ready to retire yet, but it's coming!

Thanks for making me laugh!

Mark & Sandy
     

 

[scottydl]

We bought our truck, a Dodge 2500, two years ago as part of the plan and  traded it in last week for a 3500, my wife wanted a bigger Toyhauler, which was a change to the plan......it can be done, just prepare and commit.....

Great advice, and I love that you started planning as long as 2 years ago. During that time you realized that your wants/needs changed, which is an important part of a LONG research and planning phase. You're more likely to find and buy the right RV combo for you, the first time around, when you take your time in the process. Versus realizing a couple months in, "gee I wish we would have done X-Y-Z instead." Of course truck/trailer/motorhome changes can always be made (and are inevitable if you RV for long enough), but they can be expensive lessons to learn when it occurs too early!